Manage Word Document Comments: Add, Reply, Resolve, Delete

Comments 101

Comments in Word are non-destructive annotations. They attach to text without changing the document content—unlike Track Changes, which records actual edits.

Use comments for:

• Questions to the author
• Feedback and suggestions
• Explanations of changes
• Discussion threads
• Review notes

Adding Comments

Method 1: Ribbon Button

1. Select the text you want to comment on
2. Review tab → New Comment
3. Type your comment in the balloon
4. Click outside to finish

Method 2: Keyboard Shortcut

1. Select the text
2. Press Ctrl+Alt+M (Windows) or Cmd+Option+M (Mac)
3. Type your comment

Method 3: Right-Click

1. Select the text
2. Right-click → New Comment
3. Type your comment

Method 4: @Mention (Microsoft 365)

In shared documents:

1. Type @username anywhere in a comment
2. That person gets notified
3. Great for directing questions to specific people

Example: "Hey @John - can you verify this number?"

Viewing Comments

Balloon View

Comments appear in balloons on the right margin. This is the default view.

If balloons aren't showing:

1. Review tab → Show Markup
2. Ensure "Comments" is checked
3. Click "Balloons" → "Show Revisions in Balloons"

Reviewing Pane

Shows all comments in a list:

1. Review tab → Reviewing Pane
2. Choose Vertical (side panel) or Horizontal (bottom panel)
3. Click any comment to jump to its location

Filter by Reviewer

See comments from specific people:

1. Review tab → Show Markup
2. Select "Specific People"
3. Check only the reviewers you want to see

Replying to Comments

Adding a Reply

1. Click on the comment
2. Click the Reply button (or reply icon)
3. Type your response
4. Click outside to save

Replies thread under the original comment, creating a conversation.

Reply Best Practices

Quote what you're responding to:

"The budget should be $50k"

Agreed, updating now.

Be clear about action taken:

• "Fixed - see line 42"
• "Not applicable because..."
• "Will address in next revision"

Tag people who should see the reply: "@Sarah - this relates to your earlier comment on page 3"

Resolving Comments

Resolving signals "this has been addressed" without deleting the comment.

To Resolve

1. Click the comment
2. Click the three-dot menu (...)
3. Select "Resolve Thread"

Or:

1. Click the checkmark icon (in modern Word versions)

What Happens

• Comment turns gray
• It's still visible but clearly marked as done
• Original comment and all replies are resolved together

To Reopen

1. Click the resolved comment
2. Click "Reopen"

Now it's active again.

When to Resolve vs. Delete

Deleting Comments

Delete One Comment

1. Right-click the comment
2. Select "Delete Comment"

Or:

1. Click in the comment
2. Review tab → Delete

Delete All Comments

1. Review tab → Delete dropdown
2. Select "Delete All Comments in Document"

Warning: This is permanent and can't be undone after saving.

Delete Only Resolved Comments

Word doesn't have a built-in option for this. Options:

Manual: Click through and delete each resolved comment.

Macro: Run VBA code to delete resolved comments:

Sub DeleteResolvedComments()
    Dim i As Integer
    For i = ActiveDocument.Comments.Count To 1 Step -1
        If ActiveDocument.Comments(i).Done Then
            ActiveDocument.Comments(i).Delete
        End If
    Next i
End Sub

API approach: See programmatic section below.

Delete Comments by Specific Author

No built-in option. Use a macro or programmatic approach.

Navigating Comments

Previous/Next

1. Click in any comment
2. Review tab → Previous or Next
3. Word moves to the next comment in order

Jump from Reviewing Pane

1. Open Reviewing Pane (Review tab → Reviewing Pane)
2. Click any comment in the list
3. Word scrolls to that comment in the document

Find Specific Comment

1. Reviewing Pane shows all comments
2. Use Ctrl+F within the pane to search
3. Or scroll through the list

Formatting in Comments

Basic Formatting

Inside a comment, you can use:

• Bold: Ctrl+B
• Italic: Ctrl+I
• Underline: Ctrl+U

Links

Paste a URL and Word converts it to a clickable link.

Limited Formatting

Comments don't support:

• Images
• Tables
• Complex formatting
• Attachments

For complex notes, consider using text boxes or separate documents.

Printing with Comments

Include Comments

File → Print → Settings → Print All Pages dropdown → "Print Markup"

Exclude Comments

1. Review tab → Show Markup → uncheck "Comments"
2. Now print normally

Print Only Comments

1. File → Print
2. Settings → Print All Pages dropdown → "List of Markup"

This prints a summary of all comments without the document.

Programmatic Comment Management

Add Comments via API

from docxagent import DocxClient

client = DocxClient()
doc_id = client.upload("document.docx")

# Add a comment
client.add_comment(
    doc_id,
    paragraph_index=0,
    comment_text="Please review this opening paragraph.",
    author="Review Bot"
)

# Add comment with highlight
client.add_comment(
    doc_id,
    paragraph_index=5,
    comment_text="This section needs citation.",
    author="Citation Bot",
    highlight=True
)

client.download(doc_id, "document_with_comments.docx")

Read All Comments

doc_id = client.upload("reviewed_document.docx")
content = client.read_document(doc_id, include_comments=True)

for comment in content.get('comments', []):
    print(f"Paragraph {comment['paragraph_index']}:")
    print(f"  Author: {comment['author']}")
    print(f"  Text: {comment['text']}")
    print(f"  Date: {comment['date']}")
    print(f"  Resolved: {comment.get('resolved', False)}")

    for reply in comment.get('replies', []):
        print(f"  -> Reply by {reply['author']}: {reply['text']}")

Reply to Comments

# Reply to a specific comment
client.reply_to_comment(
    doc_id,
    comment_id="comment_123",  # Get this from read_document
    reply_text="This has been addressed in the latest revision.",
    author="Document Owner"
)

Resolve Comments Programmatically

# Resolve comments containing certain keywords
content = client.read_document(doc_id, include_comments=True)

for comment in content.get('comments', []):
    # Check if any reply says "fixed" or "done"
    for reply in comment.get('replies', []):
        if any(word in reply['text'].lower() for word in ['fixed', 'done', 'resolved', 'addressed']):
            client.resolve_comment(doc_id, comment['id'])
            print(f"Resolved: {comment['text'][:50]}...")
            break

Delete Comments Programmatically

# Delete all resolved comments
content = client.read_document(doc_id, include_comments=True)

for comment in content.get('comments', []):
    if comment.get('resolved'):
        client.delete_comment(doc_id, comment['id'])

# Delete comments by specific author
for comment in content.get('comments', []):
    if comment['author'] == 'Temp Reviewer':
        client.delete_comment(doc_id, comment['id'])

# Delete all comments
client.delete_all_comments(doc_id)

Batch Comment Processing

import os
from docxagent import DocxClient

client = DocxClient()

def add_standard_comments(doc_path, output_path):
    """Add standard review comments to a document."""
    doc_id = client.upload(doc_path)
    content = client.read_document(doc_id)

    # Check for common issues
    issues = {
        'TBD': 'Placeholder needs to be filled in',
        'DRAFT': 'Document still in draft status',
        'TODO': 'Action item not completed',
        '[INSERT': 'Missing content placeholder'
    }

    for i, para in enumerate(content['paragraphs']):
        for trigger, message in issues.items():
            if trigger in para['text']:
                client.add_comment(
                    doc_id,
                    paragraph_index=i,
                    comment_text=f"Auto-flag: {message}",
                    author="Document Review System"
                )

    client.download(doc_id, output_path)

# Process all documents in a folder
for filename in os.listdir("documents/"):
    if filename.endswith(".docx"):
        add_standard_comments(
            f"documents/{filename}",
            f"reviewed/{filename}"
        )

Comment Workflows

Simple Review Workflow

Author creates doc → Adds comments for reviewers
↓
Reviewer 1 replies to comments, adds own comments
↓
Reviewer 2 replies to comments, adds own comments
↓
Author resolves addressed comments, responds to others
↓
Repeat until all comments resolved
↓
Delete all comments and finalize

Formal Approval Workflow

Draft created → Submitted for review
↓
Reviewers add comments (no direct edits)
↓
Author addresses each comment with Track Changes
↓
Author resolves comments as addressed
↓
Reviewer verifies and approves
↓
Accept all changes, delete all comments, mark final

Common Issues

Comments not showing

1. Review tab → Show Markup → ensure "Comments" is checked
2. Display for Review → ensure not set to "No Markup"

Comments in wrong place

Comments anchor to specific text. If that text was deleted or moved, the comment may appear orphaned.

1. Right-click the comment → Delete
2. Re-add the comment to the correct location

Can't delete others' comments

In some shared documents, you can only delete your own comments. Ask the document owner or the comment author to delete.

Comments lost when converting formats

Converting to PDF preserves comments (usually as annotations). Converting to plain text (.txt) loses all comments. Converting to .doc from .docx may lose comment threading.

The Bottom Line

Comments are Word's primary annotation tool for feedback and discussion. The workflow is straightforward:

1. Add comments to flag issues or ask questions
2. Reply to continue discussions
3. Resolve when issues are addressed
4. Delete when cleaning up the final document

For individual document review, Word's built-in tools work well. For bulk operations—adding standard comments to many documents, extracting all comments for reporting, or automating resolution—programmatic approaches with DocMods save significant time.